While the story raises plenty of valid issues it does fail to factor in (or make any mention) the fact many states in the US have no sales tax, or that it's added on at the checkout. GST is a legal requirement for any goods sold here so instantly you can have a 15% difference in the price of a product.

It's safe to say that we are being ripped off by a lot of companies, but in fairness to them price stability in many areas is something that's quite important. Changing prices constantly as the $ moves isn't a model that's possible for everybody, so maintaining a price that can sustain currency fluctuations is also important.

Have known this for some time. However once you add on the 15% GST + The customs charges you will get stung with if you have GST added to the product, along with the shipping. Chances are that they will end up around the same price on most products.

The ones I take real issue to is Adobe and some Steam products. For Design Premium there is a $1,399NZD markup without any added GST and without shipping. With steam the end product is the same it cost the publisher no more to supply the product to NZ but in some cases will have a $20-$30USD higher price.

sbiddle: While the story raises plenty of valid issues it does fail to factor in (or make any mention) the fact many states in the US have no sales tax, or that it's added on at the checkout. GST is a legal requirement for any goods sold here so instantly you can have a 15% difference in the price of a product.

It's safe to say that we are being ripped off by a lot of companies, but in fairness to them price stability in many areas is something that's quite important. Changing prices constantly as the $ moves isn't a model that's possible for everybody, so maintaining a price that can sustain currency fluctuations is also important.

geocom: With steam the end product is the same it cost the publisher no more to supply the product to NZ but in some cases will have a $20-$30USD higher price.

Huh?! I thought Steam products were the same price for both NZ and US, because New Zealanders just see the prices list in US$. I see Steam prices in US$. Does no one else?

Prices are listed in USD but if you look at civ 5(not the only one but the one I can remember off the top of my head) and then after seeing the nz price type ?cc=us into the URL and the USA price will be way lower. Currency is the same but the price changes.

geocom: With steam the end product is the same it cost the publisher no more to supply the product to NZ but in some cases will have a $20-$30USD higher price.

Huh?! I thought Steam products were the same price for both NZ and US, because New Zealanders just see the prices list in US$. I see Steam prices in US$. Does no one else?

Prices are listed in USD but if you look at civ 5(not the only one but the one I can remember off the top of my head) and then after seeing the nz price type ?cc=us into the URL and the USA price will be way lower. Currency is the same but the price changes.

You can see an example of this with Max Payne 3 now. $22.49 in NZ $14.99 in US.

sbiddle: While the story raises plenty of valid issues it does fail to factor in (or make any mention) the fact many states in the US have no sales tax, or that it's added on at the checkout. GST is a legal requirement for any goods sold here so instantly you can have a 15% difference in the price of a product.

It's safe to say that we are being ripped off by a lot of companies, but in fairness to them price stability in many areas is something that's quite important. Changing prices constantly as the $ moves isn't a model that's possible for everybody, so maintaining a price that can sustain currency fluctuations is also important.

The prices in the article include 9% average US sales tax

But a number of US states don't charge sales tax at all, and for a large chunk of residents in the US you won't pay any sales tax when you purchase goods online - it's up to you to declare this tax when you make your tax return.

At least the situation in NZ isn't quite so bad as Australia with their $1000 tax free imports. What's funny though is to see the continual reader feedback to media stories with retailers complaining about internet shopping killing their business and the tax free exemption being removed. Many people basically say it would make no difference to where they shopped as 10% on top of their imported goods would still make them cheaper than local stores.

sbiddle: While the story raises plenty of valid issues it does fail to factor in (or make any mention) the fact many states in the US have no sales tax, or that it's added on at the checkout. GST is a legal requirement for any goods sold here so instantly you can have a 15% difference in the price of a product.

It's safe to say that we are being ripped off by a lot of companies, but in fairness to them price stability in many areas is something that's quite important. Changing prices constantly as the $ moves isn't a model that's possible for everybody, so maintaining a price that can sustain currency fluctuations is also important.

sbiddle: What's funny though is to see the continual reader feedback to media stories with retailers complaining about internet shopping killing their business and the tax free exemption being removed. Many people basically say it would make no difference to where they shopped as 10% on top of their imported goods would still make them cheaper than local stores.

There was a small accessory I wanted for my SLR camera - local retailer price was $79.95 (generic) or $99.95 (genuine). There was also a somewhat specialised cable I wanted for my old phone, and the local retailer's price was $89. I got them both off ebay for 99 pence each (generic), including delivery - which works out to about $1.90, and this included delivery. They both turned up, and work fine. Despite the incessant bleating of some retailers, if I had to pay 15% GST bumping the prices from around $1.90 to around $2.18, it wouldn't have changed either of my purchase decisions.

Another case is a specialised part I wanted for my intended HTPC build. Local price was $NZ 699, price from Monoprice.com was $US 128 (about $NZ 158) shipped. Again, adding $23 GST wouldn't have changed the purchase decision. Plus, the local guy quoted 6-8 weeks to supply, Monoprice had it delivered in three days. I suspect all the local distributor was doing was carrying no inventory, bringing the part in from offshore once ordered by the cheapest/slowest shipping method possible, and then re-shipping after more than quadrupling the price compared to US retail.

I'm not shedding any tears for local retailers over the GST issue etc - they have had it too good for too long, getting away with limited ranges, poor service, and appallingly high pricing. It's about time decent competition from alternatives caused a shakeout and, to be blunt, if this means consolidation with some retailers shutting down or amalgamating then so be it.

I almost feel sorry for the brick and mortar resellers, they wear the brunt of negative feedback over issues like this but I don't expect they are not making the huge profits that the general public seem to think. Sometimes the local distributor through scales of economy cannot buy direct off the parent company and incurs a cost penalty buying from a sub level of parent company. Likewise the costs of running a local distribution network might have to be absorbed through a relatively small range of products so per unit recovery costs are far higher than say in the US

One got really pissy at me when I said if I had to wait for them to order it I might as well just order it myself.

Im prepared to accept some markup, but when a shop has something 30-40% higher than a NZ online seller has them for, thats not really acceptable. When I can order online for half the price including fedex/dhl to me, then something is really really wrong.

As for having to pay GST on imports - no biggie if its for business, which most IT purchases will end up being.

The larger importers really have managed to get things stacked in their favour with requirements like SDOC's, requiring NZ plugs and other things. I know that technically that makes a parallel imported phone etc not legal to sell, but I also know that the MED were turning a blind eye to it so long as a legit travel adapter is supplied instead of a dollar store dangerous one when a friend was last doing it. But those regulations to limit compitition really must go if there is any hope to getting the importers and retailers to get their markups in line with where they should be.

Wade: I almost feel sorry for the brick and mortar resellers, they wear the brunt of negative feedback over issues like this but I don't expect they are not making the huge profits that the general public seem to think. Sometimes the local distributor through scales of economy cannot buy direct off the parent company and incurs a cost penalty buying from a sub level of parent company. Likewise the costs of running a local distribution network might have to be absorbed through a relatively small range of products so per unit recovery costs are far higher than say in the US

Look at the margins a lot of these stores are delivering...It's not high... and to be honest, some aren't making any money at all.JB's have only actually turned a profit in NZ for the first time at the end of 2012.The problem - low margins (they make on some items / lose on others), but they have a high cost of doing business. Now if they closed all stores, fired 98% of their staff and went solely on-line, they may make some money.

But...Even the best results from the big chain stores on-line efforts = just 1-2% of their total turn over. Let alone profits.

Oh yeah, in regards to service from on-line stores. All I've ever received is the occasional e-mail. It's up to the purchaser to discover the range he/she is interested in. Then research the functionality / reliability etc from there. If you factor in the time required to make the purchase, then pay yourself an hourly wage - it may not actually equate to the money saving bargain it seemed to be...There's no such thing as a free lunch.